FATWA ON THE SO-CALLED “ISLAMIC STATE”

(FORMERLY “ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ & SYRIA”)

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessings be upon His final messenger Muhammad.

Due to recent events in the Middle East and their impact on some people in Britain, we as imams and scholars based in the UK, would like to issue the following clarifications in the form of a fatwa:

1. There is no doubt that President Assad’s regime in Syria is oppressive, unjust and brutal, and has committed numerous atrocities against its own people.

2. The same is true of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) or self-styled “Caliphate,” formerly known as “The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”: it is an oppressive and tyrannical group.

3. By murdering prisoners of war, journalists and civilians, including mosque imams who refused to endorse their campaign, and by enslaving the women and children of their opponents, ISIS has violated international agreements such as the Geneva Conventions and conventions on slavery that everyone, including Muslims, have signed up to. God says in the Qur’an, “Believers, fulfil your covenants!” (5:1)

4. The IS persecution and massacres of Shia Muslims, Christians and Yazidis is abhorrent and opposed to Islamic teachings and the Islamic tolerance displayed by great empires such as the Mughals and Ottomans.

5. Based on all of the above: IS is a heretical, extremist organisation and it is religiously prohibited (haram) to support or join it; furthermore, it is an obligation on British Muslims to actively oppose its poisonous ideology, especially when this is promoted within Britain.

6. British and other EU citizens are bound by their duties to their home countries according to Islamic theology and jurisprudence: it is therefore prohibited ( haram) to travel to fight with any side in Syria, including non-state actors, since this is forbidden by laws in EU countries.

7. It is a moral obligation upon British Muslims to help the Syrian and Iraqi people without betraying their own societies: “If they ask for your help in religion, you must help, except against a people with whom you have a treaty.” (Qur’an 8:72)

My problem is that I feel angry and get mad at everything other than my three children. I cannot stand to see my husband, who loves me. I cannot stand touch him or to go to bed with him. I cannot stand him. I cannot stand him. I hate men. I hate sex. I find no satisfaction in it whatsoever. I am not moved at all, when I have intercourse with my husband as happens with other couples.[i]

The above quote is from a victim of the appalling practice of Female genital Mutilation which is destroying the lives of many people across the world.

The World Health Organization estimates that between 100 and 140 million women and girls have been subjected to FGM worldwide and that each year a further 2 million girls are at risk. In the UK it is estimated that over 100 thousand women have undergone FGM and that some 25 thousand girls are at risk. More shockingly is that London has become the place where “Girls are being cut”.[ii]

The public health minister, Jane Ellison states that “FGM is child abuse but because of cultural sensitivity we have failed to protect vulnerable young girls”.[iii]

FGM is practiced by community members who are Muslims, Christians, and people of no faith.

Those Muslims who practise FGM rationalise it as a religious obligation in spite of the fact that FGM predates Islam.

Unfortunately, some Muslims and non-Muslims alike are adamant that FGM is part of Islamic practice.

Having seen the brutality of FGM and its devastating effects within Muslim communities here in the UK, The British Arab Federation makes it highest priority to work with all organisations, Muslim organisations in particular to bring an end to this hideous crime of FGM.

This document is one of the many steps taken by this organization towards ending FGM in the UK. The document therefore aims not only to highlight the effect of this appalling practice of FGM but also points out that there is no evidence as far as Islamic sources are concerned requiring, justifying or condoning the practice of FGM.

The document concludes by urging Muslims in Britain to speak with one voice loud and clear against FGM and denounce it as both non Islamic and a crime.

What is FGM?

FGM is described as the act of cutting or removing or cutting off most of the labia majora and the complete removal of the labia minora and the clitoris. According to the World Health Organisation FGM comprises all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons. Dr. Muhammad Lutfi al-Sabbagh provides us with a more horrific picture of the way that FGM is performed.The latter comments that after the cut is done “a match is placed in the labia majora aperture. After the wound has healed, a small opening is left, from which urine comes out. At the age of puberty, menstrual blood is let out of the same opening. At the end of this operation, when the match is already placed, the girl’s legs are tied together for forty days to make sure that the wound heals well”.[iv]

There are several types of FGM and the above mentioned is only one of many brutal ways of performing this appalling, inhuman and despicable practice. For instance,some forms of FGM involve the removal of the prepuce with removal of part or the entire clitoris[v]; and other types consist of the removal of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia, and it is believed that this type constitutes 80% of female genital mutilation performed.[vi]

The Effects of FGM

FGM most of the time is performed in small villages in the rural areas by elderly women and sometimes it is even performed by barbers.[vii]

They performed it usually without anaesthetics and with crude instruments such as razor blades, knives and broken bottles. In some communities, affluent families take their girls to medical personnel in an attempt to avoid the dangers of unskilled operations performed in unsanitary conditions.[viii]

The following are some of the appalling effects of FGM:

A. Surgical shock which result in the sudden drop in all functions of the body. There are many types of shock that produce the same effect, but an external shock is often the result of FGM which is performed most of times without anaesthetics.[ix] Severe pain and shock; bleeding; infection; urine retention; injury to adjacent tissues; immediate fatal haemorrhaging.

B. Extensive damage of the external reproductive system and uterine, vaginal and pelvic infections. Increased risk of vesico vaginal fistula.

C. Complications in pregnancy and child birth.

D. Sexual dysfunction and psychological damage. FGM gives the person a psychologically painful memory that would remain with the person for the rest of her life. It makes the victim afraid of sex and can only regard it as a vice.

Are there any Islamic evidence i.e. Qur’an or Hadith Justifying FGM?

The main sources of Islamic Law (Shariah) are the Qur’an and the authentic Hadith.Though the two mentioned they are not the only but they nevertheless are the most important.

As far as the Qur’an is concerned, which is the very word of Allah; there is no explicit or implicit verse about FGM.

Turning to Hadith, however, we find some Hadith that are ‘not authentic’ used by those who advocate or practice FGM and hence wrongly justifying it and attributing it to the religion of Islam.

The most quoted Hadith to justify FGM is that of a woman called Umm Attia who was known to practice female circumcision.

It is reported that the Prophet PBUH asked her:

“Umm Attia, restrict yourself to a sniff and do not overstrain ;( this way), it is more pleasant in appearance and more satisfactory to the husband”.

It is very unlikely that the Prophet would ever address a woman using such language and manner.

Moreover Abu Dawood said that this Hadith’s chain of transmitters is weak and hence making this Hadith weak.

Another Hadith associated with FGM is the one in which the Prophet is reported to have said “Circumcision is obligatory for men and a sign of respect in the case of women”.

This Hadith again is known to be weak and falsely attributed to the Prophet according to many scholars including the great Hadith scholar Al-Iraqi; IbnHajar raised concerns regarding the weakness this Hadith.

Also the great Scholar, Imam Al-Baihaqi, states that the Hadith “is lacking in authenticity, with a gap in its transmission”.[x]

It is important to note that all Hadiths used by those who advocate or practice FGM have flawed or broken transmissions, are unauthentic, and some could have even fabricated and falsely attributed to the The Last Prophet PBUH.

It is important that our Muslim sisters and brothersunderstand thatin some schools of Islamic Law‘a religious ruling can be deduced only on the basis of authentic text’. Other schools allow juristic opinion, juristic reasoning or a consensus of learned opinion in the development of rulings.

However, in case of FGM there is not Qur’anic proof nor authentic Hadith, nor sound opinion nor reason nor consensus to justify this appalling practice.

Concluding Remarks on FGM

Dear Editor, I do not know the secret why I loathe my husband, the secret of my frigidity when we have intercourse, of my anger and resentment, of my contemplating suicide. Does anybody know? Is there any remedy? I hope so, and I impatiently await your answer.

The above quote is from thelady that we quoted at the beginning of this document. Clearly this lady suffers from the trauma of FGM. As the quote indicates, she is seeking help and sadly enough there are numerouspeople here in the UK whoare in a similar condition or worse. Frankly speaking none of us would like our daughters, sisters or loved ones to experience the trauma of what the above lady is going through.

Our beloved Prophet PBUH once stated that “None of you is a true believer until he/she loves and desires for his/her brother the same that he/she loves and desires for him/her self”.[xi]The Last ProphetPBUH also said that“If anyone of you sees wrong thing let him/her stop it with his /her own hands. If cannot let him/her speak against it….”.[xii]

There is no allusion to female circumcision at all in the Qur’an, but there is a well-established tradition of male circumcision in Islam as a “sunnah” act. In the Abrahamic traditions this act is understood as an implementation of a bond with Allah and there are numerous health reasons for this practice of male circumcision.

There is no decree whatsoever for female circumcision either in the Qur’an, the hadith or medical theories.

Female circumcision is not mandated, one tradition of a doubtful authenticity permits (but does not encourage) the removal of a minuscule segment of skin from the female prepuce, provided no harm is done:

A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina [Madîna]. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: ‘Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.’

Sunan Abu Dawûd, Book 41, #5251.

One does not want to make too much of this tradition, as it is classified as “weak” by Abu Dawud himself.

However, if we do consider this type of hadith at all, reason demands that if a small cut were more acceptable than unnatural butchery then no cutting is the most acceptable act, more natural and the indicated Sunnah for Muslims to follow.

Tolerating such a ritual constituted an act of patience by Islamic law for pre-Islamic practices at ‘that time’, and was overruled by the Islamic prohibitions against harmful acts.

Islamic law protects a woman’s right to sexual enjoyment, as demonstrated by the fact that a woman has the right to seek divorce on the grounds that her husband does not provide sexual satisfaction.

Islamic law prohibits partial or complete removal of any bodily organ without proven medical need and therefore the removal of the clitoris, excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening, or any genital mutilation whether or not it harms the woman’s health or ability to enjoy sexual relations is forbidden.

Islamic law does not mandate female genital mutilation. It is an unacceptable pre-Islamic custom. People both Muslim and those from the wider communitiesare often confused bysuch customs rooted in traditions whichour Prophet PBUH invested a great deal of his message confronting and helping to systematically abolish.

Truly they found their fathers on the wrong Path; So they (too) were rushed down on their footsteps!And truly before them, many of the ancients went astray; But We sent aforetime, among them, (messengers) to admonish them; Then see what was the end of those who were admonished (but heeded not), Except the sincere (and devoted) Servants of Allah. (Q37; 69-74)

Therefore:

We state that for those who are Muslims, Female Genital Mutilation also known as Female Circumcision be considered a haraam (prohibited) practice and opposition to it should be part of our ongoing mandate to fight against superstition and oppression not just in this nation (United Kingdom) but worldwide.

Therefore those who wish to carry out Female Genital Mutilation also known as Female Circumcision do so at their own risk and will be held in violation and contempt of the laws of their Religion, Humanity and The United Kingdom (if this is done to a child either in or from the UK). Thus they will be accountable in this world and before Allah swt on Judgement Day for the violence they have inflicted and wrongly claiming it as Islamic.

Those who have committed such crimes against innocents especially in whilst taking the name of Allah (The Most Gracious The Most Merciful) should repent and turn away from error, seeking forgiveness and offering restitution to their victims before turning to Allah (swt) for mercy while they have time.

Hence because of all the damages, the psychological and physical pain that FGM causes, the undersigned of this document wish to clear Islam from the accusation that FGM is part of Islamic tradition and stand against this inhuman and barbaric practice. Most importantly, the undersigned to this document consider it a moral and religious obligation, as argued above, for all Muslims here in UK to denounce FGM with one voice loud and clear; and that FGM is an injustice, that FGM is against the teachings of Islam and that Muslims must act to prevent FGM from happening.

This Document is endorsed by the Following Muslim Scholars and religious Leaders.

Signatories:-

Dr Mamadou Boucom

& Imam Muhammad Amin-Evans

Association of British Muslims

(We will leave the ‘signing’ open for you to support this fatwa and put your name down, and or support of your organisation)

The famous Tudor dramaturge, Christopher Marlowe, wrote circa 1592 to the Prologue of his play The Jew of Malta, “I count religion but a childish toy, And hold there is no sin but ignorance”.

While I don’t agree with him about religion, nor the solitariness of the sin, I certainly hold with him that ignorance is sinful. I don’t mean ‘ignorance’ as in simply not knowing something. I mean ‘ignorance’ as refusing to find out. Indeed, in these days of the easy accessibility of information through the Internet and widespread literacy, I would consider such ‘ignorance’ not merely to be a sin, but worse – a willful and inexcusable self-indulgence. And, as it affects Islam and Muslims in the British Isles and even elsewhere in that putative entity ‘The West’, outrageous and with the wrong people positively dangerous. It should be needless to say that this works both ways.

At the moment it is quite common, even fashionable, among many to denigrate and anathematise the Shari’ah, used as a shorthand for Islamic Law or more accurately as one for the degenerate legal systems applied in certain Muslim countries – which is not at all the same thing.

There is also the understandable reaction to a more immediate problem of the ignorant demands from certain Muslims of Britain, and their umbrella organisations, for the application in the UK of some concept that they describe as “Shari’ah” or “Islamic Law”, but which is actually little better than an Islamic label stuck crudely over some imported cultural or customary code that in all too many dimensions touches Islam itself only notionally.

It is sadly true that there is some justification for these responses.

However reacting from ignorance is not helpful. Yet what else can people do when they are let down by those whose professional duty it used to be (according to the Great John Delane, sometime Editor of The Times, in his famous editorial “The Earl of Derby remarked…” of Friday, 6 February, 1852) “to educate and inform” but who nowadays seem to take it as being to promote ignorance and dissention? Few people are orientalists, and the generations who were born, grew up and served in the Empire have largely passed out of public life.

It is possible that I actually was the first to coin the word “Islamophobia” in an Editorial I wrote in Q-News International in early 1995 – I had formed the word as a derivative from, and allusion to, “homophobia” – which was picked up by the Runnymede Trust’s Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, set up in 1996, in its first Report “Islamophobia: a challenge for us all”, published in 1997. On reflection, seeing how things have developed more towards outright hatred of Islam and Muslims rather than an irrational fear, it would have been more appropriate for me to have called it “Islamomisia”. I had toyed with the idea, and dismissed it as being too academically obscure for a newspaper editorial.

About two years ago, in I think 2008, there was published in one of the UK’s daily broadsheets the results of a survey among Muslims, largely in the Midlands and north-east of England, asking whether they wanted Shari’ah in the UK. Many answered ‘yes’, but the questions remain what did the respondents understand by the request, did they think that there was a realistic possibility of it actually happening, or were they reacting to some massive hypothetical “If”?

Much has been made of the apparent results of this poll. So, following from this, what does the word Shari’ah mean for the average UK Muslim – or the proverbial ‘Muslim on the Clapham omnibus’ – and the average UK non-Muslim? And what does this actually mean for them at the operative level of daily life?

There used not to be an educated person unfamiliar with that verse from Jeremiah (6:16), “interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea” (ask after the old paths where is the good way and walk in it). This “good way” (via bona) is the well-trodden path of the prophets and patriarchs, and is the Way of Truth that all these have called people to follow.

The Muslims do not see their Way as being different from this but as a continuation of this well-trodden path, though all communities at various places, times, and circumstances have needed specific guidance for their conditions. As stated in the Quran “for every one of you We have ordained a Code and a Good Way” (li kulli ja’alna minkum shir’atan wa minhaja)(Q5:48). This via bona is none other than the Shari’ah – a ‘well-trodden path to that watering hole’ (which is what the word actually means) of laws and conduct derived from what has been sent down from the Almighty from which the Mosaic Law of the Torah, much of the Canon Law of the Christians, and the corpus of Islamic Law drink deep. To Muslims, each of these Abrahamic Faiths (as the late Professor Isma’il al-Faruqi, al shahid, termed them) has its own Shari’ah: its own track (semita) on the Way (via) of Truth.

The Association of British Muslims regards a ban on any form of clothing as a somewhat extreme and rather undesirable course of action to take. We recognise and respect the human right of people to wear whatever they want. However, this goes both ways, and applies to someone who wants to wear a miniskirt as much as someone who wants to wear a burqa.

The vast majority of Muslim scholars do not regard the burqa as being sanctioned by Islam. Only a few small groups of muslims, who adhere to certain specific sectarian or ideological beliefs, consider the burqa to be part of Islam. While the Holy Qur’an calls for men and women to dress modestly, it doesn’t mention the need for women to wear a burqa or niqab. The Holy Qur’an needs to be interpreted in a particular non-mainstream manner, for anyone to find anything that could be seen as supporting the burqa. One in every four people on this planet are muslims, around half of whom are women. The vast majority of these muslim women, whether living in majority muslim countries or elsewhere, do not wear the burqa. While hijabs/headscarves are popular, even the vast majority of very religious muslim women do not wear the burqa, niqab or any other form of face veil. Thus, the belief that veiling the face is a part of Islam, cannot be substantiated.

Of concern, is the fact that while people should be free to wear whatever they want, many of the groups who sanction the burqa believe this is something every woman should wear. We believe it is quite wrong to use the concept of human rights in such a hypocritical manner. Either a person accepts it’s a woman’s right to wear whatever she wants, be that a burqa or shorts and a tank top, or they do not. If they don’t, then they surely have no right to invoke the principles of universal human rights to support their own agendas, as such a stance is in itself blatantly hypocritical!

When a YouTube video emerged last summer showing Pakistani policemen taking turns to beat prisoners in their custody, it sparked a surge of anger among Pakistanis around the world. In the weeks following, a notable pessimism set in as bloggers and commentators mused on the inevitability of police abuse in Pakistan. But for those working towards a fairer Pakistani justice system, including my team at legal action charity Reprieve, these are exciting times — with plenty of reasons for hope.

YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are enabling citizens and police alike to communicate and disseminate information like never before, even with limited resources. This means cases of police abuse are better disseminated, increasing debate around an issue that many were previously too scared to raise. Yet there are also many positive stories to be told about the police– real-life day-to-day anecdotes that encourage citizens to trust officers more, and inspire police to be the best they can be.

Positive stories are important because, despite their reputation, many members of the Pakistan Police Force are hard-working, trustworthy pillars of society – the embodiment of the childhood career ambitions of so many. This is despite numerous inadequacies in their employment, notably the low level of financial reward that comes with such responsibility.

Of course there are exceptions. Some corrupt officers demand bribes and abuse those in their custody, and it is these stories that may now be taking permanent residence in many people’s minds. The recently published report by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the incarceration and subsequent torture of Ruby Masih in August 2010 is available to all at www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3595. Following police occupation of her Karachi home, Ruby filed a First Incident Report against those police responsible, which led to her being arrested, allegedly gang raped and held incommunicado for 50 days. It has also emerged that 50 year-old father-of-five Akbar Khan was apparently beaten to death by police in Harbanspura Precinct in February 2010, after allegedly being found to possess a small amount of hashish.

These incidents are crimes committed by corrupt officers and should be treated as such. Yet the fact that they are increasingly emerging into the public domain is the crucial first step. While all police forces struggle to control officers who would abuse their power, it is the persistent cover-ups which have roused so much resentment in Pakistan. And for this, sunlight is the best disinfectant. We’ve seen how the media attention surrounding the Sialkot killings generated debate, demonstrations and much-needed criticism of the officers involved; the police were subsequently disciplined.

That’s why we at Reprieve’s Pakistan Police Torture Project are trying to shine a light on the Pakistan Police Force, for better or for worse. Based in Birmingham in the UK, we are collecting witness statements of both British Pakistanis and Pakistani nationals who have passed through police stations and prisons across Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. With lawyers in the UK and Islamabad, and experience representing those held in Guantanamo Bay, Reprieve is well-placed to assist those who have suffered at the hands of authority. We have helped release many prisoners, including Moazzam Begg and Binyam Mohamed, and taken important confidential testimony about the so-called ‘War on Terror’ from countless more. Personal stories about encounters with the police, both positive and negative, help us to assist prisoners in seemingly hopeless situations.

With your help we can assist people like Ruby, Akbar and the families of those poor boys murdered in the summer of 2010 in Sialkot, and eventually restore trust and transparency in the police force in Pakistan Help us to create pride in a country where so many positive stories still remain to be told.

Our ultimate aim is to have torture abolished and restore trust in the Pakistan Police Force, thereby making life easier for all Pakistanis, British or otherwise. If you too want this, please contact us or visit www.reprieve.org.uk/pakistanpolicetortureproject.

Tim “Mac” Macartney founder of Embercombe (www.embercombe.co.uk) introduces the “Children’s Fire” to the attendees of the Qi Global summit in Singapore. He speaks of how over a period of 20 years he was trained by a group of mixed-blood Native Americans to appreciate that many ancient cultures used to govern themselves by a fundamental guiding princiciple, “no law, no action, shall be made that harms the children”…the Children’s Fire (a small flame or fire) was placed at the centre of their meetings as a reminder of this principle. Mac was encouraged and inspired to bring this idea to the places he worked, in business and as far as his sphere of influence can reach. He invites us to consider, “what kind of culture is it that would not place the Children’s Fire at the centre of its decision making bodies and halls of power?”

Imam Usama Hasan is not wrong to state that Muslims need to move on from a basic children’s understanding of creation. He has every right to hold the views he does. No amount of disagreement gives anyone the right to issue death threats. Life is a sacred gift from Allah and not something to be taken lightly. We should be thanking Allah for every moment of the lives He’s given us, not threatening the lives of others.

Issuing death threats is completely unacceptable. Islam is a religion that upholds the principles of Law and Universal Human Rights of all human beings. But this new trend of some wayward folk, who seem to think it’s acceptable to threaten or take the lives of others, is a new low that has no place whatsoever in the deen of Islam. Murder is a crime against God and humanity, a crime Muslims have a duty to, where possible, try to prevent, not be the cause of! How far astray have these people gone, that they seem to think it permissible for them to kill or threaten the lives of their brothers and sisters in our human family?

Imam Usama Hasan’s scientific views are not in any way contradictory to Islam, it’s not like he was suggesting we change aspects of the religious practices of Islam or something like that. Even if someone were to do so, the appropriate response would be to discuss the matter with them, not to threaten their life and wellbeing. All Dr Hasan did, was to state a scientific view which he holds, one that is based upon well established scientific enquiry and evidence. The fact that he has been forced to publicly retract his views (which he obviously still holds) brings great shame on the Muslim community, and just shows how far we’ve departed from the ways of our great forerunners from the 13th Century CE. While the West has indisputably developed, largely based on knowledge learned in the Middle Ages from Muslims; it seems that some Muslims have devolved back to a state of ignorance (jahiliyya), far removed from the high academic understanding of truly great scholars of Islam, such as Al-Jahiz, Ibn Sina, Al-Hazen and others like them.

As a person who deeply loves Allah, His Beloved Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and this deen of grace, mercy, reason and understanding that Allah has gifted unto us, I feel compelled to speak out against this ignorance and stand up for people like Imam Usama Hasan, who are simply trying to help Muslims grow in knowledge and understanding, both in terms of their faith and in other areas of learning.

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